Wichita State entered the day as the No.8-ranked team in the nation, as well as one of the seven teams without a loss on the season. The Shockers remain unbeaten, in the process continuing the program’s best start after a 67-53 win over Northern Iowa in their Missouri Valley Conference home opener.

The Shockers entered the season wondering how they would fill the roles left behind by the likes of Carl Hall and point guard Malcolm Armstead. Sophomore point guard Fred VanVleet served as Armstead’s backup, seeing 16 minutes per game. This season, he’s seen double the minutes in the starting role and on Sunday he continued to remind us that he is capable of running the show, going for a career-high 22 points to go along with his six rebounds and three assists and no turnovers. Cleanthony Early added 18 points while Tekele Cotton and Ron Baker combined for 5-of-17 shooting for 13 points.

VanVleet’s performance shows just how talented and deep this roster is for Gregg Marshall. That talent, coupled with the fact that Creighton is now a member of the new Big East, has raised the question: can the Shockers run the table?

The Missouri Valley is still a tough, physical conference as we saw in Sunday afternoon’s game with the Shockers and Panthers. Wichita State, on Wednesday, heads to Illinois State, a team that upset then-No. 25 Dayton at home. Indiana State is an experienced team with a steady point guard of its own in senior Jake Odum. The Sycamores have previously knocked off Notre Dame in South Bend and will be a difficult place to win at. As will Missouri State. As will Northern Iowa, a team that handed VCU a 77-68 loss on Dec. 14.

Marshall has been asked about his team possibly going undefeated in the regular season. His comments suggest that it’s not an important question he or his team is looking to answer. One of the questions the Shockers faced at the season was how would VanVleet handle his role in the starting lineup? VanVleet, who holds an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.27 and has committed one in three games, proved once again on Sunday that he can for the 15-0 Shockers.

The Shockers and coach Marshall have talked about the “elephant in the room” ( the obvious possibility of going undefeated in the MVC) but, more importantly, they know HOW to eat an elephant; one bite at a time!
So, there are two keys to making it happen;
1. Staying HUNGRY (and playing angry), and
2. Being thankful that they all LIKE EATING ELEPHANT!